I Looked Up and Saw...

this:


Can you stand it? (It looks like G can't, but really it was only the camera he wasn't in to.)

I LOVE how they love each other.
-Daisha

"Keep it Dry!"

Today we are celebrating a minor victory:

Naomi didn't have an accident ALL DAY LONG!!!

She even used the toilet (a big one without a toddler seat) right before Children's Church.

We prompted her about once an hour and a half. So, she's still not TELLING us she needs to go. In fact, sometimes she says she doesn't need to pee right before she begins. But, hey,
NO ACCIDENTS TODAY!!!

Daisha

Favorite new shots of Naomi

I actually had 2 photo sessions with Naomi today. The first one was for an Etsy shop called:
Chimy's Clips

These things are adorable. You should get some. (even if you're bald and only have male relatives) Ok, maybe you can be a little more practical and get them for your daughters or granddaughters.

The second shoot was for a hat that I got from another Etsy store:
HeartSmiles

I cannot tell you how adorable this hat is. And Abbie, the maker/shop owner, is really great to work with. She and I exchanged numerous e-mails about what colors I wanted and how many flowers, ect.

If you want to see the photos I took, check out my photography blog: www.DLifeful.com
-Daisha

The Long-Awaited Potty-Training Post

Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2010:
We woke up as usual and had pancakes for breakfast. The whole time I was explaining how Naomi was going to be a "Big Girl". After breakfast, we took off her diaper and threw it (and every other diaper-type item) away. We put a pair of "princess underwear" on her and I explained how she was to use the toilet now for peeing and pooping. And if she needed to go, or started to go, she was supposed to tell me right away. And we started saying, "Keep it DRY!"

She did fairly well the first morning. She stayed dry for about 2.5 hrs. Then she had her first accident. For the next hour, we went through 4 pair of underwear, including a major peeing accident at the lunch table. But we persevered.

I caught her in the act for EVERY accident and rushed her to the potty.

Thursday:
More of the same with ONE SUCCESS! She told me she had to pee, and then went to the toilet, and peed!! That was enough to give me hope. The e-book said that it takes some children until the end of day 3 for things to click.

Friday:
More of the same. Only one success. And by the time we put Naomi to bed, I was really ticked off at the author of the book and frustrated that the method had not worked for us.

Saturday:
Day FOUR of the 3-Day Potty Training. I was still discouraged. And I didn't know what to do. We stuck with the technique for one extra day, and still things didn't click for Naomi.

Sunday:
JR woke up sick, I didn't know what I was going to do with Naomi in an out-of-the-house-situation, so we stayed in from church. After discussing things with JR we decided to revert back to our method for potty-training that we used with Gideon (minus disposable pull-ups). And, we started having some successes. We were able to celebrate almost every hour as Naomi peed/pooped on the toilet when we made time for her to go. The only accidents we were having at this point were when we failed to make her go, and during her sleeping times.

Monday and Tuesday we stuck with our method with the same results.

Wednesday has been our best day so far. I headed (with both kids) to Searcy for Naomi's 2 yr. well-baby check-up. She peeded before we left for the 2 hr. trip. We stopped for lunch in Wynne where she peed in the KFC/Taco Bell bathroom. She then peeded in Heather Burchfield's toilet when we arrived in Searcy. Then, while waiting in the doctor's waiting room, she pulled out her toilet seat and told me she needed to pee!!! (and she did!!!) She only had one accident ALL DAY LONG and that was when she was so engrossed in playing with my old My Little Pony stuff and I didn't put her on the toilet. She did GREAT!

Thursday we headed back to Memphis. She continued her success. However, when we got to Wynne, I asked if she needed to go and she said, "no." But then, when we were in the middle of no where, she told me she DID need to go. But there was no where for her to go. Since she is in one (of 3) waterproof pairs of underwear, she just had to go in that. :( But she did great for the rest of the day.

She has remained dry while we have been out and about several times. She stayed dry when we played in the snow the other day.

She is successful as long as we remember to have her sit on the toilet. However, she is very dependent upon our prompts. I have continued to be in contact with the woman who wrote the 3-Day Potty-Training book. I hope she can give me tips to help things "click" for Naomi.

We have NOT gone back to diapers. And I'm re-considering my use of waterproof underwear at bed-times, since she's not learning to control her bladder since she's protected.

So, these days, I'm doing a lot of laundry. But I'm not changing any diapers. As long as we keep an eye on Naomi, she does great. I'd say we are about 80% potty-trained.

(But going from 0% to 80% in 2 wks. is still ahead of what we did with Gideon.)

Valentine's Day 2010

Before I get to the pictures of today, let's stroll down memory lane with these:

Valentine's Day 2008:Valentine's Day 2009:

And now... onto 2010!
(I snapped these on our way out the door for church service this morning.)















Quite the hams, huh? :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

N's stats

Height: 2'10'' (which when you project to her full-grown height, you get... 5'8") {so not fair}
Weight: 32.6 lbs. (technically, this puts her STILL above the 95% mark, however, she doesn't seem chubby anymore. She's really slimming down. But she is solid.)

I promise... when I get a chance to sit down and type it out, I will report on her potty-training adventures. :)
D

HUGSR Snow Day!

We actually had SNOW on the ground this time! Not just ice! (about 4 inches)

The kids and I got bundled up (JR was working on Greek in the library) and headed out in the snow. Several guys were building a "snow giant" on the lawn, so I ran back inside to grab my camera.

Here are some of my favorite shots:










(notice the snow in her eye lashes)




(the guys who built the "Snow Giant")


(the gang playing outside)

We had a lot of fun watching everyone. Well, truth be told, Naomi doesn't really like snow that much. (But don't tell JR.) :)

**I will have an update on the potty-training later. But for now, let's celebrate that N stayed dry the entire time we were out playing!**
-Daisha

Spam Alert!

It has been brought to my attention that some PC users are being attacked by "endless windows opening and suspected malicious attacks" when trying to access this blog.

I apologize profusely. I don't know what the problem is, but I have my IT guy (my dad) giving me advice on how to fix the problem.

Thanks for your patience and understanding.
Daisha

Naomi Turns 2!!

**THE VIDEO SHOULD BE FIXED NOW**

Two years ago, our baby girl looked like this:
Last year...
And this year... She's too much to capture only in photos. So I made a video.



I will be doing formal 2 yr. portraits of Naomi mid-February. We start the 3-day Potty-Training tomorrow. (I won't be on-line for 3 days. But I will report on the process after the 3 days are over.)

We love our little girl to bits and pieces. God blesses us daily through her. She adores her big brother and fills our home with laughter and cuddles. Everyday she grows in beauty, confidence and in the Lord.

Happy Birthday, Naomi Elizabeth!
(I apologize for the poor quality of the video. I'm using ghetto batteries stolen from other devices in our broken camera.)

Naomi's 2nd Birthday Party

Our new circumstances in a new place have put a halt on my elaborate b-day celebrations for the kids. But then the ice-storm came and knocked all the wind out of the sails of Naomi's quiet, home party. Luckily, she's young enough that she doesn't know the difference. (But I do.) :S

Anyway, Naomi has been getting her presents in spurts. We hid the "Printhess Scooter" that Debby got her in the pantry. But Naomi went to throw something away and saw it. So she got it early. The items that I've bartered for have not come in the mail yet, so she had no presents from us. My parents were snowed-in in Searcy, so she'll get those presents when we go for N's check up on the 9th and 10th.

However, she was able to open her presents from Brent, Kelli, Rachel, and Simon over a web-chat. That was pretty fun, and she talked about it all day. (I forgot to take pictures of her doing that.)

While I made cupcakes (my cake pans are apparently with the missing silverware... which I didn't realize until we were frozen in), the kids, JR and Debby (who came up for the weekend) snowboard/sledded in our front "yard". (no pics, sorry)

For dinner, we had home-made pizza which is one of Naomi's favorites. Then we opened the presents we had here that were left. Gideon picked out princess shoes for N to wear with her dress up clothes. Debby got her some clothes and a new baby-doll which she named "Kerri" after Elaina's friend.

Then we had singing and cake on "printhess plates".

She's having a blast.

Tomorrow, I will interview her for her 2 year development report. Then Wednesday I will "go dark". I bought the 3-day Potty-training e-book I mentioned previously. We are almost out of diapers, so Wednesday we will throw away whatever we have left and knock this potty-training out. Don't worry... I'll post a full review of the book and the process. (and whether-or-not it works) :)

Here's the slide-show of Naomi's "party".